1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to drain sink filters and, more particularly, to drain sink filters with filter elements that are removable for cleaning or replacing and methods of drain filtering.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Conventional sink drainage systems are notorious for becoming clogged as evidence by all of the chemical drain cleaners on the market. Such chemical drain cleaners are caustic and can be harmful to not only the plumbing but also to the user should cleaning material splash onto the skin or eyes of the user. In addition, such cleaners are harmful to the environment and fish and other aquatic plant and animal life.
Mechanical systems are available for unplugging clogged drains such as use of the well known pipe auger, or “plumber's snake”, a rubber plunger or a source of pressurized air applied from the sink drain. It is also known to provide access to the pipes beneath the sink drain for the application of pressurized water or air.
With a removable drain filter, a filter is mounted within a watertight housing that is connected inline with the drainage pipes beneath the sink drain. The clog forms in the filter and not in the pipes so that it may be easily removed simply by removing the filter from the filter housing, cleaning the filter element and then returning the filter to the filter housing. Such a filter also has the advantage of catching items that are inadvertently dropped down the sink drain, such as jewelry, contact lenses, etc. for easy recovery, instead of being irretrievably lost down the drainage system.
In one known removable filter, the filter is mounted only within the drain pipe via a radially outwardly facing opening in the pipe through which the filter element is laterally inserted. Unfortunately, the opening is located at the low spot in a U-shaped, P-trap, and when the filter element is removed from within its mounting hole at the bottom of the trap, any water accumulated above the clog immediately leaks out of the mounting hole. Also, disadvantageously, the size of the filter is strictly limited to the size of the drain pipe.
It is also known to provide a removable filter within a lateral section of a T-shaped pipe, but disadvantageously, the inventors have noted that the access opening needed to remove these filters face laterally outwardly. Once the filter becomes clogged there is no way to drain the filter housing. Consequently, when the housing is opened to remove the filter, any water within the lateral section immediately leaks out of the filter housing.
Another problem noted by the inventors with known inline drain filtering apparatus is that the filters are non-planer and configured and mounted in such a way that in the event of a clog occurring downstream of the filter hosing, the filter must be removed from the filter housing, whether clogged or not, in order to clear the clog. Only after the filter housing is fully opened and the filter is removed from the filter housing, may an unclogging tool, pressurized water, or pressurized air moved through the empty filter housing to clear the downstream clog.
Yet another problem with all known filtering apparatus is that the housings for the filters and thus the filters themselves are limited in width to the relatively narrow width of the drain pipes to which they are attached. This disadvantageously severely limits the size of the total filtering area of the filter.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a drain filter apparatus that overcomes these difficulties and others that the inventors have discerned.